tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184746732014-10-02T22:16:41.175-07:00Caved in to peer pressureThe exciting and glamorous life of a former Americorps, current Peace Corps volunteer.
"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll have food for years. Start a school of fishing and you'll change the future of generations."Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-86774377603205998122009-01-03T14:13:00.000-08:002009-01-04T12:57:31.174-08:00<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >2008 year end survey</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer</span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is my traditional Year End survey that I got of Chris's blog once. This year I added the handy Year at a Glance checklist from Sam. Enjoy!
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mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; 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mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; 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charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; 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panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; 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mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; 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mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; 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mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="time"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; 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mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; 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mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><i><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >End of the Year 2008 Survey</span></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><i><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >In 2008...</span></i><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did you do something you thought you would never do?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I never thought I’d get bit by a dog. I never thought I’d actually be in Bucuresti <span style=""> </span>for the premiere of The Dark Knight.<span style=""> </span>I never thought I’d stay up all night working in the Peace Corps office on the Beyond Gender magazine. I never thought I’d do so much talking on the phone in Romanian. I never thought I’d participate in organizing such a huge event as the gingerbread castle project and take meetings with the mayor of Hunedoara.</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did you keep any New Year's Resolutions?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >No, not only did I not keep my new year’s resolution last year to stop putting honey in my green tea, I broke my resolution and adopted several new unhealthy habits, like eating before bed, snacking on peanut butter sandwiches and drinking lots of coke and coffee. Also if I’m even moderately stressed it’s a good excuse for a Twix bar, or you know, cuz it’s a day.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
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<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did anyone close to you give birth?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Yes, my good friend Sarah Gaboda and I haven’t done the math but I was surprised to find out on facebook my ol’ college friend Bree has a beautiful son named Quinn.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
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<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did anyone close to you die?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Thankfully no one I was personally close to died this year while I was in Romania but I was very saddened by the deaths of Heath Ledger and George Carlin.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did you visit any countries?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Hungary</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > was the first country I visited that I had never been to before, and </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Slovakia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > now officially counts as a country that I visited because we drove through it and even stopped there for lunch. Also, I had been the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place><st1:placename><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Czech</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span><st1:placetype><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Republic</span></st1:placetype></st1:place></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > before but now I’ve actually visited my great grandmother’s village when before the only place I had been in the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place><st1:placename><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Czech</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span><st1:placetype><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Republic</span></st1:placetype></st1:place></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > was </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Prague</span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >. I need to get a Slovakian flag patch for my backpack now.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Time to travel. I didn’t really have any money to travel either but I feel like all 2008 I bounced from one project to the next to the next and even if the projects didn’t pan out or weren’t successful or weren’t what I expected I was so focused on getting things done and looking from one event to the next I didn’t have time to plan a trip or save for a vacation. I feel like there was very little time to just hang out and take in the Romanian culture – or explore some other place. And there was always the computer, camera, bicycle or something else that needed fixing or a tent or a printer cartridge or something that needed buying.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Will any date from 2008 stay etched in your memory forever</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" >?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:time minute="45" hour="4"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">4:45 am</span></st1:time></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:date year="2008" day="5" month="11"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">5<sup>th</sup> November 2008</span></st1:date></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > when my mom called to say that Obama had 200 electoral votes and McCain couldn’t win. It was an amazing moment, but basically the election and the days afterward are the moments I’ll never forget – the ones I’m already planning go on telling my children about.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What was your biggest achievement of 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >A couple of the times I was singing “Ain’t it Good” from the musical Children of Eden I actually hit most of the notes. Also, I didn’t completely lose my mind after my computer broke down and had to be sent back to the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">USA</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > again to be fixed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >That and the two GLOW/TOBE camps and I coordinated and organized (with help) last summer. I’m particularly proud of the Deva camp just because it was the one I where I got to attend the whole thing. And I’m proud of the amazing amount of work Micah and I accomplished on the Christmas at the Castle project. Even though I didn’t do that much work on the gingerbread castle, the thing looked great!</span><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What was your biggest failure?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Not ever doing anything for the organization I was assigned to in Deva. Truthfully when I got here they said they might change their focus and I didn’t know what that meant and everyone is busy so I just kept my head down and didn’t ask enough questions and didn’t learn very much about the organization – and they were happy to let me do that and happy to let me concentrate on my other projects but I think maybe I could have done some project to benefit this organization if I had just tried harder. Even now there’s a chance we could work on something together but it’s really hard to understand what is needed and what will work with the information understanding that I have.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Also, I gave up on doing Carpathian Challenge 2009 because oops! I never started training.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did you suffer illness or injury?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I got bit once on each leg by a stray <span class="diccolor"><span style="">rottweiler</span></span> and had to go to </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Bucharest</span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > 5 times to get 9 anti-rabies shots. Other than that there were just a few evenings of flu-like symptoms and then there’s the illness brought on by too much alcohol (on three occasions in 1 year, so that’s not so bad.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What was the best thing you bought in '08?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Hope. I donated $50 to Barack Obama’s campaign and when he won the election I felt like I had been a part of something. And for the first time in a long time (since I don’t know when) I actually think the future holds exciting possibilities and I'm not as worried.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did your behavior change over the year?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I drink a lot more soda and coffee. I stopped doing yoga regularly around June and probably haven’t done it all since September. I’m not as much of a health nut as I was in the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">USA</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > when I tried to eat organic. Now I’m content with the veggie ramen, but I’m also not very concerned about it because I feel like I’ll go back into that lifestyle when I get home.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I got really lazy though and I can do most of my work from home on the computer so it’s hard to make healthy decisions and make myself go out and do stuff.</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Where did you spend most of your money?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I spent the most money at the grocery store or at the piaţa but as far as percent of increase since last year – I started spending way more on phone minutes but it occurred to me at about the 1 year mark – I guess I know a bunch more people now.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >It also feels like a bunch of my money went for (computer, phone, bicycle, camera) repairs and not vacations this year. And parties. Party food for all the parties I had here</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Are you happier than this time last year?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Yes. It’s a great time to be alive. Actually, I feel I have a new direction in my life and a lot of hope for the future, but my year has a lot of unknowns in it. A lot. And that kind of makes me nervous but I am I’m looking forward to filling them in as I go.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What songs will remind you of 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >The entire musical Tommy, “Ain’t it Good?” from the musical Children of Eden, “Someone To Love” and “Killer Queen” because I finally memorized all the words and that’s been a goal of mine. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >And if you’d asked what song will always remind you of <b><i>November of 2008</i></b>, the answer would be Feelin’ Good by Michael Bublé, because I listened to it for two weeks straight.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What do you wish you would have done more of?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Vacationing, traveling with friends, observing, hanging out</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What do you wish you would have done less of?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Nagging and bitching. Sometimes I just get into this contrary mood where everything a person does pisses me off. It happens when I hear a lot of absolute statements like “I don’t like potato chips because they’re unhealthy.” And I hear “You like potato chips because you’re fat and stupid.” Or “My parents taught me to read before I was in school” and I hear “You are dumb. You are so dumb because you can’t remember when you learned how to read and your parents are dumb too.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I wish little things didn’t irritate me so much. It also bothers me when people can’t give supportive evidence to back up what they say, or they think they can and they don’t know what they’re talking about. Or when you’re trying to say something really personal and important to you and the other person just won’t hear you.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >And nagging.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What did/will you do for Christmas '08?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >For Christmas I spent a week with Micah and my cat at his New apartment at his site, Ocna Mures. It was nice to eat dinner with the same families we visited last year and go caroling. We watched The Muppet Family Christmas again and baked and decorated a whole ton of cookies. Caroling and baking for strangers and visiting (families) who are friends was a great way to spend Christmas and it makes me think about the traditions I would start in my home if/when I have a family.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did you fall in love in 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >No, not exactly.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Did you get your heart broken in 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >No, not exactly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Favorite TV program of '08?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I rediscovered a love for Supernatural which I had forgotten, after having been introduced to the show in Jan of 07. In ‘08 I suddenly caught up to season four and now Supernatural and the brother’s </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Winchester</span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > are sometimes my reason for living. And favorites, as always The Daily Show and the Colbert Report.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >At several times throughout the year I have, Toby-like from West Wing season 1, felt and said out loud, <b style="">“There is literally no one that I don’t hate right now.”</b> I doubt if it was ever true, or if it was true I am sorry that it was and it was a passing hatred. I feel like this year I have had some experience feeling if not being hated or at least “hated on” and it’s no good. I had a person over to my apartment who made some veiled political comments and I could look at him and feel and sense the intensity of the hate that is in him and I just felt so sorry for this poor soul to be saddled with that great millwheel of hating what he does not and will not attempt to understand (Because he’s stupid >:P<span style=""> </span>parentheses, emoticon for mean sticking-tongue-out face, close parentheses.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >It’s hard to make an effort to get a long with those with whom you are different, to find common ground among disagreements, it’s hard to be the subject of hate, but it’s important to put forth the effort and not give in to hate because it is such an ugly terrible thing. I’m proud to have done at least some reaching out this year, though I can’t say it isn’t difficult and frustrating.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What was the best book you read and/or movie you saw?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >The best book I read was <span style="font-weight: bold;">Three Cups of Tea</span> by <span class="ptbrand">by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin and just cuz I can never pick one favorite of anything I was also rather partial <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Kite Runner</span> too. Both books inspired me to write letters to Congress/the author respectively. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="ptbrand" style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">What movies did I even see in 2008 that I hadn’t seen already? I honestly just watch the same 20 movies over again (like Amistad) and never see anything new. I have to say <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Dark Knight</span> was great, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Milk</span>. I can’t remember when <span style="font-weight: bold;">Stardust</span> came out here and I liked that one.</span></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What was your greatest discovery?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Where do I go from here? For now I believe the best course of action is to imagine what I want my life to be and then take steps to get there. I guess that’s all you can do. Set goals and take steps toward accomplishing them and hope and pray it works out. And, work hard.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Also, I discovered what it’s like to love someone so much that when you see them at the worst they’ve ever been to you – you only want them to improve (as opposed to wanting them to be miserable for being such a bastard) and when they are annoying you think man, there’s no one I’d rather find annoying right now – and you hope they feel the same way when they see you at your worst. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >My 28<sup>th</sup> birthday was the final day of the Christmas at the Castle project. We closed up, cleaned up, came home, had a glass of champagne to toast the completion of almost a year’s work and then went out to dinner with friends. It was a great birthday! The girls from the organization Punct Inima surprised me with a chocolate walnut cake! The next day, Dec. 15<sup>th</sup> was the 1 year anniversary of the first time Micah and I ever visited Hunedoara castle.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I can’t think of one thing that would have made my year <b style=""><i style="">immeasurably</i></b> more satisfying. I few things might have <b style=""><i style="">improved my year somewhat</i></b>, but as far as I’m concerned 2008 was immeasurably satisfying <b style="">in many ways my hopes and dreams came true.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >That said - I would have been significantly happier if my computer hadn’t needed to go back to the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">USA</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > to get fixed again, and if my camera, my phone and my bicycle hadn’t also needed to be repaired.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Underwear, bra, socks, pants, shirt. Or sometimes underwear, bra, tights, skirt and shirt. Simple. Easy. I don’t shop for clothes. I have enough. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
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mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Who are you most thankful that you met?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >My new site mate Beth. It’s going to be great having another Peace Corps volunteer in town. Especially one I can be such easy friends with and who is on the GAD committee with me.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >And Dani because I guess we met at the beginning of 2008 and he’s been a great friend and someone I can really count on. Someone who listens and lets me crash at his place when I’m up all night in Bucuresti working on Beyond Gender and I got no other place to go. He’s given me multiple rides so I didn’t have to take the train when he happened to be going my way across the country and it was so fabulous of him to meet me at the train station when I got bit by the dog and pick me up in his car and take me to dinner instead of me having to drag my sorry self to the hotel and eat alone that night (or just not at all would have been easier). I think the man puts up with a lot hanging out with all these Americans all the time and he’s a great friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Who did you wish you did not meet?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >No one I can say I wish I didn’t meet. Even if I met someone really irritating it helps to put that person in perspective so that I clarify why it is that I don’t agree with this person and don’t respect his/her behavior. It’s good for me to know that he/she is out there being (a jackass) his/herself and that I don’t need to feel obligated to change him/her. He/She can just go right on being the way they are and I just don’t care enough about he/she/it to get involved.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Who was your best friend?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >My best friends are still Micah, my cat Bella, and The Family at home whenever I hear from them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Who was your enemy?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Sarah Palin. My enemy was the entire Republican National Convention for telling me I suck and that everything about me sucks and all my ideas suck and basically I just just go to hell. Also, the hypocrisy in the world that makes me angry and frustrated and therefore consumes my time by me being angry and frustrated.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Who do you miss?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Nicole and Sam. When was the last time we were together? I also miss my brothers. I’m looking forward to sitting down and having a Supernatural marathon when we get together.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Under the heading of <b><i>What</i></b> <b><i>do I miss?</i></b> – Book stores. I really miss book stores and libraries, but mostly bookstores where I can go with casually and spontaneously go with friends and make a huge mental list of wants and then exchange money for a book of my choosing which then becomes mine – my new special object that I treat myself to and can carry around and cherish because it is my own and I picked it out myself for me – but I also miss libraries too. I just have had less experience throughout my life with really good libraries than I have had with book stores. At home it’s like whenever I go shopping I’m in the bookstore. (Want to get me a coming home present? How about a bookstore gift card?)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">
<br /></span></span><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Who will you never forget?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Elder Sumbot and Elder Sandberg the nicest Mormon missionaries I’ve ever met. They’re also the only Mormon missionaries I’ve ever met, but that sells them short</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >That denying your hopes to avoid disappointment is an act of cowardice. It is the refuge of the weak and of the fearful. If your goal is to change you the world for the better, you can not do the work without the hope that the world <i style="">can</i> be better. If you try to do the work without hope and belief that the world can change, then you’re breeding resentment and you’re wasting your time. It’s easy to be a cynic. It’s much more difficult to be effective.</span><span style="font-size:85%;">
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<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="time"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What will you always remember about 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >When I heard "as of </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:time minute="0" hour="23"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">11pm</span></st1:time></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > eastern time The President of the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > is Barack Obama" and though technically he's the President Elect I could tell Jon Stewart was so happy to say those words. It was Wednesday night, November 5<sup>th</sup> when I heard those words out loud for the first time instead of just reading President Elect off of a screen, and I was filled with such an amazing feeling of pride, and gratitude and hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br />Aspirations for 2009...</span></b>
<br /></span></div><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Verdana; 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charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; 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mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What do you want to do in '09 that you couldn't in '08?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Go home! Seriously, I want to travel a little bit more if I can (</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Greece</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > and </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Turkey</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >) and then successfully get Bella home to the </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">USA</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >And I want to manage the below without going crazy or spiraling into depression</span><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Any resolutions?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >To pray every day. Eat better. Learn more about vegetarian nutrition. Drink less coffee and more green tea. Go back to doing yoga every day. Join a gym and work out, when I get home. Go on a two week vegan fast when I get home so I won’t pig out too much right away. Listen more. Take the GRE and apply for grad schools. Spend 3 months in </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Mexico</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" > becoming fluent in Spanish. Keep a journal. Write more. Write more letters to my family. Update my blog more often. Make some money. Read the news. Get up early. Join a church when I get home.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >What will be different about 2009 than 2008?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I’ll have to manage this whole saying goodbyes with uncertain futures attached, going home, dealing, sorting all my crap, probably have to buy new clothes, apply for grad school, get a new phone probably, and maybe get some kind of a job or else I’ll have no money at all thing – without going totally crazy. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Where am I going to live? Where are me and my cat going to live? How do I go visit everyone? What am I going to use for money? How am I going to afford to pay for grad school applications and the GRE? What about travel? Who’s going to pay for my prescriptions? My phone? These are some of the questions I have to answer without going totally crazy in 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Anything you want to change about yourself for 2009?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >I feel like I want to have for the first time in my life a really organized wardrobe. I want to have clothes that all fit together with a certain style that all look good on me. I guess to do that I’ll have to spend some money. I also want to go back to working out and doing yoga which I did a lot of in ’05 and ’06 but not so much in Peace Corps. I also want to work on being more spiritual and less grouchy.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1593833729 1073750107 16 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style=";font-family:&quot;;" >Do you want to make more friends in 2009?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:85%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >Yes, but only if they’re awesome friends like the ones I already have.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >In 2008 I:
<br />[x] stayed single
<br />[x] got kissed
<br />[] kissed someone new
<br />[] kissed in the snow
<br />[] kissed in the rain<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[] kissed in a pool
<br />[] kissed under the stars<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[] kissed under mistletoe
<br />[] fell in love
<br />[] fell in love with a fool
<br />[] had my heart broken
<br />[] broke someone else's heart<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[] lost my true love
<br />[] lost faith in love for awhile
<br />[] had a stalker
<br />[x] lost a friend. <i>Can’t say this is final, but when I hear the Mica song “I don’t care if I never talk to you again, and it reminds me of one person, it’s a good sign there’s not much worth hanging on to.</i>
<br />[] had a good relationship with someone
<br />[] got pregnant
<br />[] got married
<br />[] had a divorce
<br />[] got engaged
<br />[x] kissed someone of the same sex <i><span style=""> </span>There’s a lot of cheek kisses in </i></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Romania</span></i></st1:place></st1:country-region><i><span style="font-family:Verdana;">.</span></i></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >
<br />[x] met someone that I will never forget
<br />[x] did something I regret
<br />[] got a promotion <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[x] got a pay raise <i>We all did. To deal with price inflation. </i>
<br />[] changed jobs
<br />[] lost my job
<br />[] quit my job
<br />[] got fired from my job
<br />[x] did something I was proud of
<br />[x] proved myself an idiot <i>I’m sure in some way</i>
<br />[x] was involved in something that I will never forget
<br />[] painted a picture
<br />[] wrote a poem
<br />[] ran a mile
<br />[x] listened to music I couldn't stand
<br />[x] double dipped <i>I’m sure I did. The fried green tomatoes with ranch and potato chip breading come to mind. Unless that’s not what double dipped means and I’m proving myself a foodie.
<br /></i>[] skinny dipped
<br />[x] went to a sleepover
<br />[x] went to camp
<br />[] threw a surprise party
<br />[x] laughed till I cried
<br />[] laughed till I peed my pants
<br />[x] flirted shamelessly
<br />[x] visited a foreign country
<br />[x] visited a foreign state...<i>state as in state of mind</i>
<br />[] cooked a disastrous meal
<br />[] lost something important to me <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[x] got a gift I love
<br />[x] realized something new about myself
<br />[] tried to gain weight
<br />[x] dyed my hair
<br />[x] came close to losing my life <i>if you count “could have potentially lost my life”</i>
<br />[] someone close to me died
<br />[x] read a great book
<br />[x] saw a great movie
<br />[] saw a movie so scary that it made me cry
<br />[] saw a favorite band live
<br />[] did something that I want to tell everyone
<br />[x] experienced something new
<br />[x] made new friends
<br />[] found out who your real friends are
<br />[] lied to your parents
<br />[] snuck out
<br />[x] went to a party<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[x] went to a wild party
<br />[x] had the time of your life<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[x] got in trouble with police <span style=""> </span><i>They tell me I was the reason the cops showed up, but I never saw any cops.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" >[] got arrested
<br />[x] danced
<br />[] fell out of love
<br />[] had a crush on someone
<br />[] swam in a pool
<br />[] made a snowman
<br />[] went snowboarding
<br />[] went sledding
<br />[] slept in past 2pm
<br />[x] held someone’s hand
<br />[x] held someone’s hand that you care about
<br />[x] told someone you like them as more than a friend
<br />[x] gone on vacation
<br />[] gone on vacation with a friend
<br />[] driven a car <i>Wow, it’s been over two years since I’ve driven a car.</i>
<br />[] played strip poker
<br />[] danced in the rain
<br />[] seen someone get in a car accident
<br />[] got in a fist fight
<br />[x] laughed until you couldn't breathe
<br />[x] had an amazing year
<br />[x] missed someone
<br />[] got hit by a car
<br />[] sent someone to the hospital
<br />[] got a new pet
<br />[x] enjoyed this year overall<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-86360504468841712582008-12-29T11:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T13:27:47.291-08:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:verdana;" >The Mighty Mighty Update</span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br />Lest you think I have spent all my time since the November 5th (in Romania) election results (4:45 a.m. to be exact) gazing into the distance with teary eyes and a sappy grin - here's what I've been up to. I'm sure some of you have already heard about it - or seen some of the pictures.<br /><br />Stand by for the upcoming 2008 A Year in Review Personal Survey! and Happy New Year, everyone!<br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > Hello all,</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"> Happy Holidays to all! As donors and friends supporting our event here in Romania, we wish to give you this overview of the weekend. Attached is a <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/theonlylunchbox/CraciunLaCastel">slide show</a> of photos with helpful captions to guide you.<br /><br />And here's our project on the Romanian news, although two more news stations covered us, we don't have the links and haven't seen the clips. Pay no attention to that girl speaking English who is waving around a pamphlet for the Peace Corps Institutional Development Program.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RNPod6tjx-E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RNPod6tjx-E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RNPod6tjx-E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></object>By the Numbers: </span><ul style="font-family:verdana;"><li><span style="font-size:85%;">20 kindergarten - high school groups came to perform carols, dances, poetry, and skits on Christmas themes.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">20 NGOs came representing various causes and organizations: orphanages, Parkinson's Disease, the Handicapped, Women's Shelters, and more.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">12 Peace Corps Volunteers were in attendance</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">2 Newspapers and 3 TV stations covered the event - both local and national</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">400 people voted in our Christmas Tree Contest</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">1 Gingerbread Castle was on display</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">20 Christmas NGO Christmas Trees entered the Christmas Tree Contest</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">2 out of 20 middle schoolers won in a simultaneous game against a national chess champion </span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Gingerbread Castle and Decoration:</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > The event was a success with a lot of work put in by volunteers of various nationalities and ages. For the construction of the gingerbread dough, 12 of us gathered at a bread factory to use their large ovens and mixing machines. We had 2 Mormons working in Deva with us, 3 women from a Catholic organization coming from Argentina and France and the U.S., a Romanian-Hungarian as photographer, and the usual assortment of PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers).</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Later that same weekend, we had two girls from Austria come to help us and 10 teenage Red Cross volunteers create posters for the event. About 4 of those same volunteers later came on three separate weekends to help us put up tables and chairs, hang the posters, garland, and lights, and put the finishing touches on the gingerbread castle.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Micah and I worked at the castle over three weekends. It's finishing touches were applied over one all night session at the castle. Micah had to ensure a steady stream of Aretha Franklin to remain oblivious to the fact that I was one of two people within those cavernous, cold, and creepy walls. A reality show once recorded there looking for ghosts and other <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW3NqNlH1lU">supernatural phenomenon.</a> It's obvious why. It doesn't get creepier then a medieval castle at night.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wrap Up</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > Micah and I are still in the process of contacting winners from the children's coloring contest, NGO winners of the Christmas Tree Contest, and delivering certificates to our many volunteers. She will be on her way here for the holidays when we will gather all our materials from our October Skills Sharing Meeting to provide NGOs along with our survey. Those of you who donated to our event can also expect an official report as called for by PCPP funding rules. We are both very happy to have the event done with and have all of you to thank for it. I especially wish to thank our parents for their support. My mom donated Santa hats for all our volunteers and Halloween candy (with Reese's peanut butter cups!!!) for free games, among other gifts and her father gave generously to our fundraiser. My folks helped close the funding gap at the close to our fund raising time frame and helped me out this month as telephone and travel costs went over our usual stipend.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Future Event Prospects</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > We're now in the process of evaluating the success of the event by surveying participating NGOs. We hoped to draw NGOs together in a collaborative spirit and offer the public an opportunity to learn about the good works that NGOs provide. To this end, with a total of 5-600 visitors and lots of news coverage, we felt this goal to be well reached. We were very impressed by the professionalism of the NGO's games and Christmas trees. We had given them lots of suggestions and photographs to work from, and many of them took our ideas to the full degree. Because of their efforts, the event had a very strong and professional look. We'll soon find out if they would do it again next year. Preliminary feedback from the orgs has been positive. Micah and I are both trying to extend, but prospects for us being here next December are unlikely. We will provide the castle with a guide on how we organized the event, however we hope to find a leader among our invited NGOs to perhaps take the lead in organizing for next year. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Lessons Learned</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > Something this big cannot be done without its fair share of lessons learned. We have a much clearer idea now of the best way to build a gingerbread castle. I know now just how important it is to put performers and NGOs into one place. Getting an audience and performers together in a place as large as our castle is no small feat. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > Thanks all who supported us! </span><br /></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-85660323107491500632008-11-04T22:10:00.000-08:002008-11-04T22:18:05.325-08:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sail on, Sail on, Oh mighty ship of state</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" ><b>"Democracy"<br />Leonard Cohen<br /></b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETwbVBPI1U<b><br /></b></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming through a hole in the air, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from those nights in Tiananmen Square. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming from the feel </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > that this ain't exactly real, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > or it's real, but it ain't exactly there. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > From the wars against disorder, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from the sirens night and day, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from the fires of the homeless, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from the ashes of the gay: </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming through a crack in the wall; </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > on a <span style="font-weight: bold;">visionary flood of alcohol;</span> </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from the staggering account </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > of the Sermon on the Mount </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > which I don't pretend to understand at all. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming from the silence </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > on the dock of the bay, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from the brave, the bold, the battered </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > heart of Chevrolet: </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming from the sorrow in the street, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > the holy places where the races meet; </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > from the <span style="font-weight: bold;">homicidal bitchin' </span></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > that goes down in every kitchen </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > to determine who will serve and who will eat. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > From the wells of disappointment </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > where the women kneel to pray </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > for the grace of God in the desert here </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > and the desert far away: </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Sail on, sail on </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > O mighty Ship of State! </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > To the Shores of Need </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Past the Reefs of Greed </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Through the Squalls of Hate </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming to America first, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > the cradle of the best and of the worst. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's here they got the range </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > and the machinery for change </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's here the family's broken </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > and it's here the lonely say </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > that the heart has got to open </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > in a fundamental way: </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming from the women and the men. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > O baby, we'll be making love again. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > We'll be going down so deep </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > the river's going to weep, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > and the mountain's going to shout Amen! </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > It's coming like the tidal flood </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > beneath the lunar sway, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > imperial, mysterious, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > in amorous array: </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > Sail on, sail on ... </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > I love the country but I can't stand the scene. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > And I'm neither left or right </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > I'm just staying home tonight, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > getting lost in that hopeless little screen. </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > that Time cannot decay, </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > I'm junk but I'm still holding up </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" > this little wild bouquet: </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.</span><br /></span></span></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-24874829048708313282008-10-31T04:32:00.000-07:002008-11-01T02:06:44.831-07:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Christmas at the Castle Project update<br />(what we've been working on)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Dear friends and family,<br />Micah and I are proud to announce that we are 50% complete with our "gingerbread castle project": Christmas at the Castle. We're delighted to have your support with this project and proud to involve you in this photo update of the work we have done so far.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" >The Practice Gingerbread Castle, 1st weekend of August, 2008</span><br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwNSka7hI/AAAAAAAADzs/yQZqKnNY8cM/s1600-h/IMG_2304.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwNSka7hI/AAAAAAAADzs/yQZqKnNY8cM/s320/IMG_2304.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263283225649409554" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwN5R9OBI/AAAAAAAADz0/NJfTY9eDcY4/s1600-h/IMG_2308.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwN5R9OBI/AAAAAAAADz0/NJfTY9eDcY4/s320/IMG_2308.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263283236040947730" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The first weekend of August another volunteer made the trip to Deva to help Micah and I bake for two days in my kitchen while the oven temperature reached 400 degrees <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Fahrenheit</span>. Many cold glasses of water (with ice! were consumed.) Thank you, Anne!</span><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwOPdKMsI/AAAAAAAADz8/uLuXBR1Eu9Y/s1600-h/IMG_2310.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwOPdKMsI/AAAAAAAADz8/uLuXBR1Eu9Y/s320/IMG_2310.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263283241993515714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">This is what gingerbread looks like when made without molasses or brown sugar. We used honey as a substitute. The dough bakes a lot thicker and we realized we could carve it into the shapes we wanted rather than baking many many tiny pieces and gluing them together with frosting.</span><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwOoW0ciI/AAAAAAAAD0E/fqx9wkSeIME/s1600-h/IMG_2312.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwOoW0ciI/AAAAAAAAD0E/fqx9wkSeIME/s320/IMG_2312.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263283248677810722" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwO3YJtpI/AAAAAAAAD0M/EovjiXI73gA/s1600-h/IMG_2314.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrwO3YJtpI/AAAAAAAAD0M/EovjiXI73gA/s320/IMG_2314.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263283252709930642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Determining the level of detail is difficult. The castle is really approximately 15 different buildings.</span><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx0qH_KKI/AAAAAAAAD0U/gFAgYfi6z4o/s1600-h/IMG_2316.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx0qH_KKI/AAAAAAAAD0U/gFAgYfi6z4o/s320/IMG_2316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285001499125922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx05bl5rI/AAAAAAAAD0c/C6o46qnT-WI/s1600-h/IMG_2317.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx05bl5rI/AAAAAAAAD0c/C6o46qnT-WI/s320/IMG_2317.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285005607888562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">This practice castle is 1/2 the size of the complete model we hope to create for the December event. We determined at this practice session that we should try to make arrangements with a professional bakery for the use of industrial ovens. We're working out the details on such and arrangement now. We were still in the process of fund-raising for the greater project when we build the practice castle so the supplies for this phase of the project was not part of our budget.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Skill Sharing Meeting 24 October, 2008</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx1KeCV3I/AAAAAAAAD0k/NaTgh6OiVRc/s1600-h/IMG_9046.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx1KeCV3I/AAAAAAAAD0k/NaTgh6OiVRc/s320/IMG_9046.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285010181543794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Micah and our translator Monica, a Red Cross volunteer, ask representatives from Romanian </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" style="font-size:100%;">NGOs</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> to get into groups and discuss the state of cooperation between organizations.</span><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx1v9hPII/AAAAAAAAD0s/UXOFCtbFzpo/s1600-h/IMG_9048.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrx1v9hPII/AAAAAAAAD0s/UXOFCtbFzpo/s320/IMG_9048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285020245703810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">More than 27 people attended at least part of our meeting which was held at the Red Cross in Deva. Some people came representing organizations from as far away as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Timisoara</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Cluj</span> (five hours by bus, but I'm not sure of the time by private car.)</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrybS22T4I/AAAAAAAAD1E/lylH_AUuyZo/s1600-h/IMG_9051.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrybS22T4I/AAAAAAAAD1E/lylH_AUuyZo/s320/IMG_9051.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285665268125570" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The day was divided into 20 minute workshops on skills </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" style="font-size:100%;">NGOs</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> need to acquire or want to improve. We learned what areas were important to our partners through a survey when we invited them to take part in the Christmas event at the castle, then invited those who indicated they were willing to speak to share their organizations best practices and success stories. In the event that no one wanted to speak on a particular topic, we tracked down professionals in the week leading up to the meeting.<br /></span><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQryb4eB5qI/AAAAAAAAD1M/fb-NjJDlnOc/s1600-h/IMG_9055.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQryb4eB5qI/AAAAAAAAD1M/fb-NjJDlnOc/s320/IMG_9055.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285675364574882" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Holly, another volunteer in group 22 and a good friend with professional grant writing experience gives a presentation to the members of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">NGOs</span>. Holly has raised over a million dollars for her community in the USA and gives her advice and basic tips in her presentation.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrycNoNrbI/AAAAAAAAD1U/tg0IllxFbQQ/s1600-h/IMG_9064.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrycNoNrbI/AAAAAAAAD1U/tg0IllxFbQQ/s320/IMG_9064.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285681044434354" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A presenter from the office of E.U. Integration speaks about the resources available to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">NGOs</span> from the European Union and how to access those resources. At the end of the project we will collect information from all of our speakers and create a CD of resources for each participating member of the project. </span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrycut9myI/AAAAAAAAD1c/DBoyc5YoR5s/s1600-h/IMG_9067.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SQrycut9myI/AAAAAAAAD1c/DBoyc5YoR5s/s320/IMG_9067.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263285689926916898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" style="font-size:100%;">Brindusa</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, a colleague from the Gender and Development board speaks about planning events for a nonprofit organization and the importance of evaluating events and projects. </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" style="font-size:100%;">Brindusa</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> traveled from </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" style="font-size:100%;">Turda</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> for the meeting and was a great help to Micah and I with last minute translating. She recently left a well known </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" style="font-size:100%;">NGO</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> in her town to start her own animal protection </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" style="font-size:100%;">NGO</span><span style="font-size:100%;">.</span> </span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-22601170814211915342008-10-22T02:10:00.000-07:002008-10-22T02:11:00.066-07:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >It's like the end of a love affair...</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br />More like a death in the family, but that's cruel to use as a headline unless it's actually true and I don't know about you but with the election so close I don't need another thing to get my heart pumping faster than usual....<br /><br />Last Monday night my computer Kwarou decided to be sick again. I'm sure it's a hardware problem with the monitor and I'm sure it can't be fixed in Romania. I have to send Kwarou back to the USA again, to be fixed again, because the last time I sent him to the US they replaced the motherboard, I assume without even noticing the occasional flickering of the monitor and when I got him back in February was all good for two weeks and then the problem started again.<br /><br />Now the problem is much worse. I turn the computer on and I'm faced with a black screen that never turns into my desktop. The worst thing is the first time I took him in to one computer shop here in Deva he worked fine, so I brought him back home and was faced again with blackness.<br /><br />Now my life is thrown into total upheaval. I'm really emotional about it. I'm two weeks behind in the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, I can't call home using Skype, I can't conference call my fellow Peace Corps volunteers for free which has led to my spending more than 100 lei on phone calls due to the increasingly busy nature of the project at hand.<br /><br />Mostly I'm upset at not having my email at a finger tips all day.I miss knowing where all my files that have to do with this project are and not having to dig through my sent messages for a backup copy in my email. </span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"> I miss not having episodes of Supernatural at my command.<br /><br />I miss music and stupid Youtube videos. I miss political ads and blogs. I'm about to burst into tears when I think about where I'm going to be and what I'm going to be doing while election returns are coming in - probably taking a hot bath with a paperback and a bottle of wine at two in the morning and then pacing frantically - probably naked and crying!<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />I knew I spent too much time online before. In some ways this could be seen as a good thing as this is one of my two busiest weeks in Peace Corps preparing for the NGO skill-sharing meeting on Friday which is part of the Gingerbread Castle project. I don't need an youtube or video distractions. But I miss my online lifestyle. I miss being connected. More than anything I'm frustrated with all the obstacles this creates not just for my job but for my life - with a friend's laptop that doesn't get the internet, another laptop that does get the internet, but of course doesn't have my cache of downloaded TV shows and movies, neither of which connect to my printer or camera.<br /><br />Also, since it cost 60 lei to get rid of Bella's fleas (I hope once and for all but she's scratching more than before she had them, less than than when I knew she had them last week) and because my ATM card is expired and its uncertain when I'll get a new one it's questionable at best when I will have the money to send Kwarou back to the US - braving the Romanian and US postal services so he can be repaired and returned to me.<br /><br />And (this is the kicker) HP sent me a reminder that if I do send Kwarou in to be repaired I need to take responsibility to back up my files in case they get erased. Now how am I supposed to back up my files when I can't see anything at all on the screen?!<br /><br />So I guess this is farewell, my friends. It'll likely be mid-November before you hear from me again.</span></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-54203655230626970422008-10-12T03:56:00.001-07:002008-10-12T13:14:42.731-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" >"Many of the truths we cling to, depend greatly on our own point of view." <span style="font-size:100%;">-Obi-wan </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kenobi</span></span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally as usual do not have anything to do with the US government, the Peace Corps, or Romania, and therefore do not reflect any official position thereof.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I just watched </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/">The Return of the Jedi</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, the last part in my impromptu Star Wars marathon, which came about something like this, Me thinking: I could watch the debate, but that will just depress me and make me angry. What's something uplifting I can watch that will give me hope? A New Hope...Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Later, though I did watch the debate, as I also watched the first debate and the VP debate and have been following the news as closely as I can. It is disappointing to me how much our political discourse is theater. The debates are really not about engaging the American people so they can learn each candidates position and make the best decision. It's about repeating stock phrases and trying to beat those phrases and two-second ideas into the heads of the audience. If you repeat something often enough it will become true.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">McCain's campaign keeps saying Obama would sit down with leaders like Mahmoud <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ahmadinejad</span></span>, when my understanding of what he said is that under his administration high level members of the government would engage Iran in discussions, not that the President is going to have a one-on-one with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ahmadinejad</span></span>, who isn't even the most powerful leader in Iran.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Obama's</span></span> campaign just keeps repeating that McCain voted with Bush 95% of the time. Both sides point to each other and say "Oh, he's a terrible person because he voted against funding our troops" even though <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">McCain</span> voted against funding the troops in a bill with a time table and Obama voted against funding them in a bill without a time table.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Something <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">occurred</span> to me watching Return of the Jedi. The Rebels could easily have been called a terrorist army by the Empire. I wonder if they were. I wonder if the people in support of the Empire thought the Emperor could protect them from "those who seek to destroy us." I wonder what those people wanted to be protected from in the big scary galaxy a long time ago far away.<br /><br />Did they know that the Empire was a military <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">regime</span> in which ranking officers who screwed up could be summarily executed and not just fired?</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">I wonder if the subjects of the Empire had rights. I wonder if they hated The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Rebellion</span>, if they thought the Jedi religion was a cult that sought to destroy their values, if they ever talked with anyone in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Rebellion</span>. If there was any exchange of ideas between the Empire-Supporters and the Rebels.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SPHn9f576_I/AAAAAAAADzk/QB_WUKLeO88/s1600-h/starwars.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SPHn9f576_I/AAAAAAAADzk/QB_WUKLeO88/s320/starwars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256237283840617458" border="0" /></a></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Obi-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wan's</span></span> quote from the top of this post stuck out to me more than usual this time around. I have heard the term Post-Fact Society recently and it suddenly makes sense to me. We living in a time when if you don't like something- you can simply dismiss it. Judges you disagree with are "activists", an ethics violation investigation that began before Sarah <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Palin</span></span> was nominated for Vice President is now "politically motivated." People who believe in Creationism are opening their own museums. Objective facts have lost all meaning. </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/06ae3d8563">Paris Hilton </a><span style="font-family:verdana;">is correct when she says "Sound bites, not sound policy determine our country's course." </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />We are in the Post-Fact world where education is undervalued and you can dismiss the voices of </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/185683/september-24-2008/alpha-dog-of-the-week---bill-bennett">intellectuals as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">elitists</span></a> <span style="font-family:verdana;">in the pursuit of your own version of American-truth. I have heard it stated by people seeking to dismiss dissenting opinions, the ACLU and Sean Penn hate America! That we're not allowed to say Merry Christmas. There's no such thing as the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">separation</span> of church and state. We should just blow up Iraq. People damning <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">theocratic</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">governments</span> abroad while pining for one in the USA.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It frustrates and saddens me that this is the level of discourse in the United States today. People seem to have this notion of a democracy as a "majority rules" establishment. That it's a society of "us" versus "them" - the good guys and the bad guys, and if we can just get enough people on our side then we win. But that's not what democracy is about. It means we have a voice with which to elect our representatives and the right to express how we wished to be governed to those people, but we also have an obligation as a members of a free society to be respectful of minority <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">opinions</span>. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">There are protections, or were, in a democracy <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">against</span> the "tyranny of the majority." That's why we have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">constitutional</span> limits on powers, and the bill of rights. That's why we have freedom of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">speech</span>. That's why the first line of the first amendment is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free expression thereof." That's why we don't live in a theocracy. And that is why, unfortunately, sometimes <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">decisions</span> regarding the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.courant.com/video/?autoStart=true&amp;topVideoCatNo=default&amp;clipId=3013238">rights of the people are made by the courts and not left to a popular vote. </a> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />"Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." Unfortunately right now the point of view held in the highest esteem by too many of us is our own point of view. Rather than seeking to hear another point of view, we immediately dismiss either the person or wholesale dismiss the facts on which their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">argument </span>is based. Because we now live in a time when no fact can sway us and no argument must influence us unless it reinforces what we already believe and everything else can be thrown out, or better yet </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.courant.com/video/?autoStart=true&amp;topVideoCatNo=default&amp;clipId=3013238">called "gay."</a> </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />In a Post-Fact Society, I am longing for a real discourse. I'd like to enter into a real conversation and have my opinions challenged <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">intelligently</span>. We know I'm tired of being called names and having my values attacked (See former post September 7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">th</span></span>). Use the awesome power of The Force to persuade me that your side is right. Don't make education the enemy. Don't change the subject. And don't call me names.<br /><br />With the shameful lack of discourse going on, and appalling lack of statesmanship, I have to let go of my anger lest it <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">consume</span> me. I turn to past and fictional leaders for their wisdom to guide me through these troubled times.<br /><br />Because, that's all I have. May the Force be with us all.<br /><br />"I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier." - Rufus the 13<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span></span> Apostle, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/">Dogma</a><br /></span></span><dl style="font-family:verdana;"><dt><span style="font-size:100%;">"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." - Martin Luther King <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Jr</span></span></dt></dl><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" class="sqq" >“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> -Yoda, Jedi Master</span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-66515082870638455162008-10-01T10:05:00.000-07:002008-10-01T10:17:19.617-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Brother, can you spare some peanut butter cups?</span></span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally as usual do not have anything to do with the US government, the Peace Corps, or Romania, and therefore do not reflect any official position thereof.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The holidays are fast approaching, the first one being Halloween. I'm helping my Missionary friends start a high school club where we reinforce Romanian high school students' English skills while also doing fun things watching movies, having discussions and doing activities that promote confidence, self-esteem, creative thinking, problem-solving and critical thinking skills and also foster cultural exchange. And we want to promote these evening activities as an alternative to alcohol and drugs. That is the hope, anyway.<br /><br />To kick off this club we're planning a Halloween party, and let me tell you I am psyched for showing these kids a real American-style Halloween, complete with scary movies, pumpkin carving peeled grapes and oily spaghetti. Maybe even 80's Karaoke.<br /><br />For the party, I'd really like to make some of those chocolate chip cookies with the peanut butter cup in the middle, as a matter of cultural exchange and also to show these Romanian kids that Americans do junk-food deserts right. Who needs alcohol and drugs when you've got chocolate chips cookies with peanut butter cups sticking out of them? However, chocolate chips, cookies, peanut butter and cups (peanut butter cups) are all foreign to Romanians. I don't expect they'll be nearly as excited as me, my Missionary friends and my volunteer army in charge of making this Halloween a very happy one.<br /><br />So does anyone think they could put a bag or two of peanut butter cups in the mail - soonish, that it might get here by Halloween?<br />If so, you'd have the thanks of a grateful community of volunteers and maybe some culturally enriched high school students.</span></span></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-73209667738790499222008-09-28T08:43:00.000-07:002008-09-28T09:13:54.721-07:00<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Purr Baby</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The contents of this website are mine personally as usual do not have anything to do with the US government, the Peace Corps, or Romania, and therefore do not reflect any official position thereof.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've been thinking for weeks what should my next blog post be about? How hard I'm working on this gingerbread castle project? My other "secret projects" none of you know about? How surreal my life sometimes is? The pictures I saw of Hurricane Ivan and how it made me feel? More about the problems in my country? What I'm thinking for the future - after Peace Corps? The Supernatural Marathon weekend I just had with two Peace Corps friends that involved Chinese food, delivery pizza, potato chips, coca-cola and the Winchester brothers Seasons 1 &amp; 2?</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />As I debated in my mind I recalled I wanted to post on September 18th - the day we celebrate Bella's Birthday. The one year anniversary of the day Bella came to me. We celebrated with a whole packet of Whiskas Supreme Sardine cat food, and I toasted her with hot coffee. To one year together and many more.<br /><br />I would post a picture of how big my baby's gotten, but for the time being my camera is being repaired in Bucharest and I don't have it here, so you'll just have to me due with this kind of cute old picture.<br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SN-sxk9IBCI/AAAAAAAADzE/qTPJaeQYwqE/s1600-h/IMG_1408.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SN-sxk9IBCI/AAAAAAAADzE/qTPJaeQYwqE/s320/IMG_1408.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251105658270909474" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the meantime Bella and I have been at odds lately. Last week I hosted a family of <a href="http://www.couchsurfing.com/">couch-surfers </a>, a mom, a dad, and their 8month old baby boy for three nights. Bella seemed to be both interested and afraid of Baby and seemed to have fun playing with the other members of the family. Her personal space and patterns of sleeping were invaded I thought minimally, and even though everyone of the visitors warmly appreciated Bella I still tried to give her as near the same amount of attention I would normally.<br /><br />However, when visitors left on Friday evening Bella, I guess decided to tell me exactly what she though about me inviting overnight guests into her apartment: She took a dump on my bed.<br />This is an unusual turn of events for Bella. I punished her with a time out in the kitchen and much later made sure she had some "mommy time" to know I wasn't still mad at her and hadn't abandoned her.<br /><br />Then my weekend-guests arrived and the Supernatural Marathon did commence and once again, the guests appreciated and enjoyed playing with Bella and aside from two more people sleeping in the apartment than usual, I thought Bella's daily interactions changed very little. ALthough I did notice her scratching herself much more frequently when our first guests were here. I announced that Bella needed a bath. That her itching was worrying to me although she couldn't have gotten fleas because she's never outside. A joke was made that the couple with the baby brought fleas to my cat. I commented that that would be some trick because I think you'd have to go through a lot of specific actions or troubles to bring fleas inside to someone you knew would have a cat.<br /><br />Well the itching increased and Sunday morning after my fellow Supernatural fans departed Bella got her bath. I was concernedly drying her and in fact picking newly discovered parasites of some kind off her skin when I smelled it...She rewarded me for my weekend guests in the same way she appreciated the couch surfers!<br /><br />I don't know what's going on here, but my cat has fleas and has taken to crapping on my bed. This is worrisome behavior for a cat that is coming to the USA with me someday and is going to have to learn how to cope when "mommy" gets a job and is hopefully out of the house from 8-5 regularly.<br /><br />In the meantime, she's had her flea bath and I can go pick up some emergency medication against fleas on her body hopefully tomorrow. The only explaination of how I think she could have gotten them is that flea eggs survive in my apartment - and necessity has forced me to be somewhat OK with that. I tried to wash one of the cushions Bella's been so fond of sleeping on lately but whether or not the washer actually washes things with water is touch and go - so when I pulled the washers contents out dry earlier I said "let that be a worry for another day."<br /><br />Since my tools for cleaning the carpets is a broom and I beat and washed these rugs already this year, there's not much that's going to be done there, and since I have actually zero disposable income - i.e. income not already budgeted for something else, it's going to be a hard sight to see how we swing this flea medication. In the meantime I'm sleeping in my dish-soap cleaned bed because it takes two-days for the sheets to dry on the line if the machine uses water so usually I only wash them when I'm going away for a while. Besides Bella has done so much sleeping on me or with me that there's no way I could claim avoiding exposure for flea eggs and a massive laundry overall would just be too little too late.<br /><br />The best I can do I figure is bathe her again if she continues to scratch, find a way to pay for the medication that will kill all hatching fleas on her for a number of months, and pray I don't get fleas myself .... until I do, I guess I have to be Ok with that.<br /></span></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-8068334422976326522008-09-07T07:33:00.000-07:002008-09-08T00:02:41.307-07:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Something productive with my anger...</span></span></span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The contents of this website are mine personally as usual do not have anything to do with the US government, the Peace Corps, or Romania, and therefore do not reflect any official position thereof.</span>
<br />
<br /></span></span></span></span><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link style="font-family: verdana;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: verdana;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: verdana;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: verdana;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: verdana;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: verdana;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I have just been told by the Republican Party that my country doesn’t value me; doesn’t want me anymore; thinks people like me suck.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br />Imagine finding that out after dedicating three years of your life to volunteering in her name.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Apparently this RNC was all about touting the values of people from small towns. I am from a small town: population 10,000, so you would think I would score there. But apparently, as I have been told before, I don’t have any values. The last Republican National Convention 9/11fest was in <st1:city><st1:place>New York City</st1:place></st1:city>, because that’s small town <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region> for you. However this year, only “real” people from small towns in <st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region> count. But not me.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I’ve volunteered for 1 year in Americorps, for three months on the <st1:place><st1:placetype>Gulf</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype>Coast</st1:placetype></st1:place> and so far a year and a half in the Peace Corps, and this experience has taught me that I want to go back to school. I want to be a Community Organizer and work in underprivileged areas in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>, to start my own nonprofit and help the poor help themselves but Republicans tell me this is a joke and waste of time.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Also, I can’t be a patriotic person because I have always believed that loving your country is trying to improve it. I shouldn’t have been trying my damnedest to “ask not what my country can do for me…,” instead I should have been going along with the status quo and never let anyone say anything negative about my homeland.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I worked for minimum wage out of college – less than 20 hours a week which was considered full time by the company I worked for – but I found a way to use my money to send care packages to anonymous soldiers I didn’t even know because I may hate the war but I support the troops. This doesn’t make me patriotic, though. Hell, I’ve practically committed treason by showing dislike for the war my country is engaged in and expressing that opinion to the very soldiers I support.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">And because I think my country could do things better than the way it is doing them now, I am anti-American.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I didn’t just attend church, but enjoyed going to church in my community in <st1:state><st1:place>Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state> before I left the country. I miss being involved in Bible study, volunteering for summer Sunday school and serving pancakes at Churches United for the Homeless. But I believe that Faith is belief in things for which we have no evidence and if a new thought can shake your faith it probably wasn’t very strong to begin with – so my textbooks don’t need disclaimers, and therefore I’m anti-God.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">In fact, I’m so anti-God, I’m willing to listen to what other people believe and not tell them their wrong. I think that even though I have faith in one thing, we should uphold the constitution and not tell everyone they have to believe the same thing as me! That makes me even more anti-faith and anti-American. Because after all why even have faith if not to push it down the throats of others? And being a Christian first and foremost gives you the right to believe you’re better than other people.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I believe that abortion is a very personal, private, individual, moral decision, but – like John McCain believed in 2000 – I believe that if Roe vs. Wade were repealed thousands of young American women would be in danger of death and injury due to illegal and underground abortions. This makes me anti-family, because in a Culture of Life, we don’t value the lives of women who’ve had sex – especially if unmarried or unable to afford a doctor. The wealthy will have a greater chance of affording procedures that won’t leave them butchered or prone to die of infection, but those who were struggling day to day without the prospect of raising a child? Well, they’ll have to take their chances. Should have thought of that before you had sex with limited access to birth control (I’m looking at you <st1:state><st1:place>South Dakota</st1:place></st1:state>.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Because believe that a Culture of Life includes looking out for working and single mothers, working families and people who can’t afford health care; because I thought I remembered Jesus teaching something about “caring for the least of these;” because I remember learning somewhere either in my small town or at my small college that among Christians the people are what make up the church and the people love and care and sacrifice for each other; I’m probably a Socialist and therefore a danger to America.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I hate PG-13 movies because by definition PG-13 movies aren’t allowed to show blood as consequence of gunplay and most PG-13 movies are produced so middle school kids have something to do on dates, but I think there are many good, decent, well-made Rated R films that can teach us about the human condition, so therefore I’m pro-Hollywood, and to be pro-Hollywood is to be pro-gay so add that to list. (Majorly looking forward to the movie Milk, though need it be stated?)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I also don’t believe in traditional marriage and don’t want to get married. In my “traditional family” and in my small town I saw many traditional marriages end in divorce and I really don’t care much for the institution. But that’s because I’m anti-marriage, anti-family and anti-“traditional values” even though I don’t know what you mean by that. If this post hasn’t shown you enough already, every time someone says “traditional,” “American,” “family,” or “our shared” values I stop listening because rarely are they talking about me, my values or my family.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I don’t count because if I don’t believe the same thing as someone else I don’t have values. In fact, I’m beyond that: by valuing diversity, acceptance, pluralism, education, and peace, I am anti-Values. I’m a feminist, vegetarian who supports gun control and wants to be a foster parent someday. I’m one step away from being the Anti-Christ.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Is it any wonder I feel alienated from my country?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Any wonder why I can’t automatically parrot-chirp Yes, when asked if I’m proud to be an American?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I’m not proud of being called names, I can tell you that.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Republicans have made it quite clear that Patriotic America has no use for people like me.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">But I will not surrender my country so easily. All though it is hard, I have to forge ahead and make a place for myself there – no matter how demoralized I am and tired I am of being told that I have no values.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I know that I have worthwhile values. I know that I am a worthwhile American. And no one is going to take my country from me like this. If they think the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> will be better off when the people like me all leave – they can make me. Just as soon as I get back.</span></p>
<br />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-72980273020046445602008-08-24T03:27:00.001-07:002008-08-25T00:51:59.831-07:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Carry on my Wayward Son</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The contents of this website are mine personally as usual do not have anything to do with the US government, the Peace Corps, or Romania, and therefore do not reflect any official position thereof.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Having strayed far from my "comfort zone" into completely alien territories of faith by studying and attending church with Missionary Group #2, my mind has recoiled at the utter lack of balance in my life. Reeling and grasping for me to put something "normal" within sight; some indication or reminder of who I am and where I came from; which as I recall is "just another freak in the freak kingdom."<br /><br />In response I decided to become obsessed with Supernatural, a show to which I was briefly dedicated in January and February of 2007 before I left for Romania.<br /><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SLEvxi5Sv4I/AAAAAAAAC38/cedKO4K_j54/s1600-h/samanddean.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SLEvxi5Sv4I/AAAAAAAAC38/cedKO4K_j54/s320/samanddean.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238020369835802498" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Supernatural is a good reminder to me that I do have a lot of faith and a capacity to believe incredible things. It also makes me feel more sorted out to have "treatment" of Sam and Dean every evening with an episode (or three). Because when you distill the relationship between the Winchester brothers down through all the duty, and demon-induced pain and grief, what you have is basically one </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">hot </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">guy</span></span> <span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">telling another hot guy "I can't live without you" - just not in so many words.<br /><br />And Heaven knows I will lap that up. I will eat up with a spoon. I will drink it with straw.<br /><br />However, I have opportunities to challenge my firmly held beliefs and find contention here too. While surfing the abundance of Winchester brother videos on Youtube (I really make it sound like I don't do any work at all, don't I?) I came across a video someone made for Jensen Ackles about his character's pet peeves; one of which is when people assume that because Dean and Sam are always together, they are ...uh, <span style="font-style: italic;">together</span>. Now I can't demand a gay-positive attitude from all my fave fictional characters (see Leo McGary from the West Wing). I sometimes do know when I'm asking too much of the world. Besides what person in their right mind, what <span style="font-style: italic;">gay person</span>, wouldn't be offended if someone suggested they were gay ...<span style="font-style: italic;">with their brother?</span><br /><br />However I was shocked and disappointed when in the video, typed across one of the stills is, the quote "When I find out who invented Wincest I'm going to burn that bitch." The quote is not attributed to Ackels and I dearly hope it is not his. The maker of the video sourced their material from an Ackels fan site, which I scoured (by which I mean glanced at to not find the quote or the attribution on the home page, so I left).<br /><br />I sincerely hope he didn't say that. I would fall to my knees and howl in lamentation if he did. I would be gravely disappointed. Possibly to the point of tears and rending my garments. Not because I'm a fan of Wincest. It's not my cup of tea. But I understand those who might go for it. I sincerely doubt the majority of Wincest fans are in it <span style="font-style: italic;">because</span> of the brothers. (Ew). I think it's just an excuse to get two hot guys together in a fan fiction story. It's not my thing, so I personally leave it alone. It may not be you're thing either, but really is it hurting anyone? It's a bunch of made-up stories, probably terribly written stories - about <span style="font-style: italic;">fictional characters</span>. Probably horribly written. (Shudder).<br /><br />So in the meantime I wring my hands and wonder why all the condemnation in the world? Sigh. At least I have my sweet sweet show to cling to - until I watch all of season 3, which only has 16 episodes.</span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-2383596659729714732008-08-21T00:40:00.000-07:002008-08-21T01:02:10.415-07:00<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: verdana;">You're not the boss of me!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was probably the only person in North America (when I was in North America) who anxiously awaiting the day a proud Muslim person would come knock on my door and ask it I'd like to learn more about the Prophet Mohammad. I would <span style="font-style: italic;">love </span>to learn more!<br /><br />Because I have a sincere interest in other people's faiths, and I think it can never hurt us to learn more about faith and what our brothers and sisters believe, I have entered into study-relationships with two different sets of missionaries. I have been doing Bible study for about eight months now with a Romanian girl who speaks English that I met because she knocked on my door, and I recently engaged another group of American missionaries that are in town. I'm interested to know more.<br /><br />It probably doesn't help that all of my Peace Corps friends went on vacation at the same time and I am working from home on the internet so that doesn't leave me anyone to talk to. And its amazing how much you have in common with other Americans you have nothing in common with once you're in Romania together.<br /><br />I was enjoying weekly talks with both sets of missionaries. It was nice to have someone in my life to remind me that spiritual pursuits require time and energy which should be dedicated to study, prayer and self examination. Fine. But now both groups are making greater demands on my time. One group wants to see me three times a week including church on Sunday, and my other friend whom I've known longer - who's never invited me anywhere not even on Easter - has finally invited me to church this Sunday. When I told the other missionaries this, they seemed offended. They weren't outright mean, but they definitely put pressure on me to come to <span style="font-style: italic;">their </span>church. I thought I could just go to one church this week and another one next week and then I realized: they both want me to come to church with them every week.<br /><br />At first I was kind of shy and embarrassed. I tried to think of something placating to say. I wondered how I could get out of going to church with the other person. I felt like I owed them. They made me feel like I had broken a promise. Like I was disappointing them. Then, later I got angry. I don't deserve to be stressed out about this. It isn't a competition. Both of these Christian denominations should just be glad <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm going to church at all </span>and not trying to convince me that <span style="font-style: italic;">theirs in the one true church.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">This I think is representative of everything I find frustrating about Christianity. And while desperately trying to remain a Christian, increase my knowledge and my faith, this kind of thing really makes me want to chuck the whole thing and stay home and watch cartoons in Romanian. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Although I don't exactly feel justified since the missionaries weren't outright mean about it. They just made me feel kind of bad.<br /><br />They said it was an opportunity for me to ask God to reveal to me which house I was supposed to be in on Sunday. So I did. Though, unhappy that they were putting me in this position I asked God "<span style="font-style: italic;">If it's important to You</span> which church I go to on Sunday please indicate to me where you would like me to go."<br /><br />We'll see what happens, but until then I'm shaking off this pressure by reminding myself that this is only One Sunday of my life and really, which church I worship in is so not important. They're both going to be in Romanian anyway.<br /></span></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-57965125424988522902008-08-12T08:00:00.000-07:002008-08-12T11:54:12.705-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Pitch...</span></span>
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br />
<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SKGpatCL7zI/AAAAAAAAC20/MpMk7yK5h40/s1600-h/Image0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SKGpatCL7zI/AAAAAAAAC20/MpMk7yK5h40/s320/Image0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233650518211686194" border="0" /></a></span></p>
<br /><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >At last the time is right to inform everyone about this incredible project I've been working on, w</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >hich I know I have not mentioned or explained thus far. Read on to find out about this extra special project and how you can be part of it!
<br />
<br /></span><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link style="font-family: verdana;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLaura%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">In cooperation with the management of Castleul Corvinilor (the Corvin’s Castle) in <st1:place><st1:city>Hunedoara</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Romania</st1:country-region></st1:place> my friend Micah and I are organizing a Christmas fair for local children involving nonprofit organizations which benefit children at the often-pictured-on-this-blog castle December 12-14th.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Organizations such as local orphanages, associations which benefit street children, groups for parents of disabled children, Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity will come together for a weekend long fair, and offer an activity or craft for children for a small amount of money. We intend this event as an opportunity for nonprofits to solicit donations, recruit volunteers, and promote their mission and services. There will be a chance for each organization to invite its child beneficiaries to decorate a Christmas tree for display.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">As a centerpiece to the event, we will create and display a model of Castelul Corvinilor created out of gingerbread. The gingerbread castle will be a project of Peace Corps volunteers and will be donated to the event as a media showcase, and will remain on display at the castle along with the decorated Christmas trees for the rest of the season.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Communication and cooperation between Romanian nonprofits often fails in an atmosphere of competition and tension. Past-dependence on foreign donors has made the work of many nonprofits insular; their work often left unacknowledged and unassisted by their communities which may not even be aware people are working toward solutions to local problems. The objectives of <span style="font-style: italic;">our </span>event are to raise the profile of Romanian nonprofits benefiting children and families, while providing them a networking and local fund raising opportunity. A secondary benefit is the media attention to Hunedoara, an underprivileged community, as a tourist point of interest.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SKGrJ2IRWuI/AAAAAAAAC3E/QwwMRazglVI/s1600-h/GINGER2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SKGrJ2IRWuI/AAAAAAAAC3E/QwwMRazglVI/s320/GINGER2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233652427618605794" border="0" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SKGpatCL7zI/AAAAAAAAC20/MpMk7yK5h40/s1600-h/Image0001.JPG">
<br /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><o:p></o:p>The castle administration is eager to work with us and has agreed to donate use of the castle for the three-day event and to make admission free to all who wish to attend. We will also be inviting local dancers and musicians to perform and food and drink vendors. There will be a coloring contest with a prize for the winner and other special events throughout the duration of the Christmas fair. Maybe even an appearance by Santa Claus himself! </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">We invite you to help us fund this this event through the<a href="https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&amp;projdesc=403-123"> Peace Corps Partnership Program </a>so that we can provide organizations that would not otherwise be able to participate the cost of materials for their activity at the fair. In addition to supporting our nonprofit partners who ask for assistance, our main expenses with this project are printing and advertising the event and the cost of creating the gingerbread castle. We are additionally seeking in-kind donations to support the project although the culture is not on where businesses are usually involved in the community.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">If interested, click <a href="https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&amp;projdesc=403-123">here </a>to go to the Peace Corps Partnership Program web site and make your tax-deductible donation online with your credit card. It's that easy and you can donate any amount!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >I look forward to continuing to update you on the progress of this project. In fact if my camera hadn't broken last weekend I would have some pictures of our "practice gingerbread castle" which we constructed and of "days of the castle" a medieval celebration in Hunedoara.</span>
<br /><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-50752600811931325482008-08-12T07:38:00.000-07:002008-08-12T07:59:06.332-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;" >Laundry Day!</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Today is laundry day and I am thrilled! Why am I thrilled? Because somewhere around the second week of June my last washing machine broke. It was very old but I think I overloaded it and it started to smoke. Sadly when I informed the landlord of this over the phone I initially said correctly in Romanian, "Smoke from the washing machine" and then I went on to say "I am smoking the washing machine."<br /><br />Sometime in early July the landlord actually showed up to fix it. It was not entirely his fault it took so long. We had problems coordinating our schedules and I've been making frequent trips to Bucharest and since its summer there are various festivals going on which take me out of town on the weekends. The weekend before last weekend was one that I was home, however.<br /><br />I have to hand it to my landlord. He really gave fixing that old washing machine the old college try. He made two different trips here to fix it, on the second trip he left with the machine, only to return it, instruct me to put the clothes in it and wash away. Then he tried to take it apart with my clothes in it before informing me that it was still broken and leaving with the machine - and me with a tub full of wet towels and jeans.<br /><br />Now I have no right to complain about having no washing machine since most of my fellow volunteers have no washing machine and have been doing their laundry by hand for over a year. I've been doing my laundry by hand for only a little over a month. What I was upset about was the fact that I was long waiting for him to come and fix it so I could wash the jeans and towels I'd been saving for when I had a machine again. If he had said right away - too bad no machine, I could have washed those jeans and towels by hand much sooner. Truly, I ran out of towels at one point and when the point came when I <span style="font-style: italic;">needed </span>to shower and still couldn't justify pulling a towel out of the laundry bag, I dried myself with what can only be described as a super-absorbent bathroom floor mat that a guest had left here.<br /><br />I was also especially upset about the landlord leaving me with that pile of wet jeans and towels because he told me he would call me last Tuesday or Wednesday and bring over a new machine. Well he didn't and both of my buckets were already full. I had to leave last Thursday for Bucuresti for my last shot in the series of anti-rabies treatments, so I put the wet towels and jeans in the tub and filled it up thinking damp clothes can't mold if they're underwater. However, I forgot that my bathtub leaks so instead of damp laundry moldering on the bathroom floor, I had sopping wet laundry moldering in the bath tub.<br /><br />But today the landlord brought over a new machine, Praise the Lord! It only took two cycles for each of two separate loads to get that aquarium smell out of my disturbingly slimy jeans. Soon I will be rich in clean dish towels - which I haven't seen since early June and my bathroom floor will be free of buckets of dirty filthy smelling water and soaking clothes. My balcony is already crowded with drying towels and pairs of pants. I am very excited and still unable to overlook my good fortune at having a washing machine!<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-35846463902828866602008-08-07T02:26:00.000-07:002008-08-07T02:41:14.453-07:00<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: verdana;">Romania is not the United States</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: verdana;"> >:<</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 85%; font-family: times new roman;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For the first time I have been really annoyed that Romania is not the United States. It started around 4 am this morning when a car in my neighborhood's car alarm when off - and proceeded to blare for two hours until 6:05 this morning.<br /><br />Usually it is screaming cats. bloody snarling dog fights and occasionally a rooster cockadoodling at 5 am which make up the annoying noises heard in my alley, and I've learned to live with it. This car alarm pissed me off though. I lay in the dark with a second pillow and my arm over my head trying to drown out the noise waiting for one of my neighbors to call the police. I imagine no one did.<br /><br />I didn't call the police because a) I don't have a non-emergency number for the police department<br />b) I don't know if they would understand my Romanian, and because<br />c) I'm not sure if letting your car alarm blare for two hours in the early morning is illegal.<br /><br />But it should be. It doesn't seem fair that one person's car alarm falsely going off should deprive people in three bloc buildings of a night of sleep - and for the record that's a lot of people. And I can tell how many people were up by how many lights went on in the apartments in the other building.<br />In fact, at one point I put my headphones in, flicked on the lights in the bedroom out of solidarity with the neighbors and to show the police should they ever show up just how many people were disturbed by this, and buried my head under the pillows and tried to sleep in the living room.<br /><br />After breakfast this morning I sent an irritated email to our Safety and Security officer describing the situation and asking what I can do should it re-occur. I not so sensitively pointed out that this is illegal in the US, that playing sirens to deprive people of sleep is a torture technique, and told him I might call him at four in the morning next time it happens so that he can call the Deva police for me.<br /><br />I signed off, Tired and Cranky, Laura.<br /><br />Luckily as daylight broke the wailing siren stopped. I popped a couple of ibuprophen to help get rid of my screaming headache, put my eye pillow over my face to simulate darkness and turned off the alarm so I could sleep in till 10. Unfortunately at 9:30 I was awakened by someone in my hallway cutting metal with a chainsaw because they are making some renovations I don't understand to the building - but that is what I am used to.<br /></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-59408600092203751622008-08-04T23:52:00.000-07:002008-08-05T03:04:12.445-07:00<span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">One weekend, four musicals and these clips</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A working weekend, but I managed to listen to Godspell, Mama Mia, Tommy, and watch Sweeney Todd (finally!) Also, discovered these priceless gems. Can't wait to get involved in Improv Everywhere when I'm back in the states! </span></span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RgZuHlDuulk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RgZuHlDuulk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dkYZ6rbPU2M&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dkYZ6rbPU2M&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-5939476317316628452008-07-25T03:56:00.000-07:002008-07-25T04:20:12.975-07:00<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;color:#33cc00;"><strong>OH Sweet Hell,</strong> <strong><span style="font-size:100%;">Batman!</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SImxtxTRFNI/AAAAAAAAC2U/zwCAywsuCL8/s1600-h/Jokerkillingjoke[1].jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226904242426549458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SImxtxTRFNI/AAAAAAAAC2U/zwCAywsuCL8/s320/Jokerkillingjoke%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I saw The Dark Knight last night. I felt a little bad that it such a dark movie and I was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">cackling</span> obnoxiously through a lot of it. It is funnier than I expected, and let me just say the Joker has some lines that completely <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">satisfy</span>! At one point I gave a dirty look to some other Americans in the audience that were talking out loud in English during the movie - but I didn't really have a leg to stand on with my burst of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">maniacal</span> laughter (let me say in my own defense though, in this movie, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">maniacal</span> laughter is not out out of place.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I heard an American girl say during one seen "couldn't they have found a better Alfred?" which made me consider leaping out of my seat and grabbing her by the throat. I wouldn't have had very far to go because she was sitting in the middle of the aisle (apparently you can do that) but I decided against it because I wanted to see the rest of the movie.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Heath Ledger's Joker is hands down my favorite character and my favorite performance. Knowing me, and my sense of humor you know that if Ledger's Joker wasn't so sharp there could have been a moment during his scene with Maggie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Gyllenhaal</span> where I would have thought "HA HA! He totally made out with her brother!" but as it was that didn't occur to me till the ending credits. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I love the Joker's voice, which I read was Ledger's biggest challenge with the role. The whole performance is just incredible. If you put this movie next to anything else the Brother's Grimm, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Brokeback</span> Mountain, A Knight's Tale, - I'd never guess it was the same actor if I didn't already know!</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I was SO SAD it's the last movie I'll ever see him. I wanted to cry during every seen he wasn't in. I wore all black to the movie theatre. If I were in the states I would have worn The Joker makeup too - but I can't do that here because A) I don't have my Ben Nye kit and B) People would talk - "I saw an American at the cinema wearing The Joker make up. That's because they're all homicidal maniacs, Americans." And they'd only be half right. (shh! I didn't say that.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Even with all Ledger's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">amazingness</span> Gary <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Oldman</span> also stole the show for me. Could be that he's got a bit more screen time than the Joker, but also the subdued Jim Gordon, stands out next to the energetic performances of Ledger, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Christain</span> Bale, and Aaron <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Eckhart</span>. It made me love <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Commissioner</span> Gordon even more than I did after the first Christopher Nolan Batman movie.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Funny thing is on the train on the way to Bucuresti (for the fourth out of five anti-rabies shots) I had a dream about Adam West and the Batman tv show that I watched in the second grade. After walking out of the theatre last night the following occurred to me: Batman-still cool. Nolan really packs the punches when it comes to questioning the goodness of human nature, heroism, and the struggle against evil internally and externally. This is not Adam West's Batman.</span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-23693248848688116302008-07-22T04:51:00.000-07:002008-07-23T08:10:53.181-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Nature Girl</span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hope isn't easily killed. I have tried to kill her many times, never really believing I'd succeeded, and still she refuses to die. That's a good thing, for the most part. But Hope has a dangerous twin sister Expectation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the life of every woman (and I expect also, every man) there comes a time when you look to the future and ask yourself what you want. At this point you separate what you were told you wanted and what you actually want. You also examine the horizon and make note of the difference between how you were told your life would be and how it is. For most of us I believe involves hearing a lot of "When you grow up and get married and have kids" and then looking around going "huh?" or "when?" and "Whaaa?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">For me I don't have a lot actual guides to reference when I think about ideas like "relationship" "happiness" and "forever" so I look to The Movies to be my guides. It occurs to me lately that several movies involve people reminiscing about happiness from their youth which is over. Happiness the character expected would continue to the end of the storyline and are now looking back on with fondness and regret.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Then there are the enormous multitude of movies that end when the couples get together and we presume they live "happily ever after." I have often commented that movies like this build false expectations - most of our stories end when a couple get together at the end of a film and we never see the complicated trials, or the work of maintaining a relationship.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But which is it? Should we expect that happiness will just come and that one day after some amusing pitfalls, some crying and a big comedic moment (Julia Roberts stealing a truck and proposing to her best friend) it will all fall into place and happiness will just arrive?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Or are we constantly wary, avoiding false expectations, eschewing disappointment and pain...and wrestling with hope?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">There are things that I was told all my life - and I never believed them. I turned a cold eye to all romantic comedies which build dangerous expectations. The ones I don't admit to watching - and have done so only under duress. I told myself happiness can't be found in another person. Love should never be calculated in terms of what you "deserve" or think you deserve, and any time I ever heard someone say that I forced my interior monologue to shout "SHUT UP, SHUT UP" because people don't always get what they deserve. I think, rarely, they do. I repeated Eponine's lines in One Day More "Not for me, Not for me," until they became true for me and still I tried not to dream, tried to have no expectations. I tried to kill hope.<br /><br />I did this because it was easier than maintaining that fragile faith. My faith in this area is almost gone. But then...<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Where's the line between hoping and creating false expectations? What is tempting fate, setting yourself up for failure? And what is sitting on the bench, staying out of the game? When is it true that if you don't expect to find happiness you won't find it? What amount of hope, or expectation of happiness is reasonable?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I joined Peace Corps because I've always wanted to serve. But also for a bit of adventure, and maybe also to "find myself." And instead, maybe I'm finding something else. Something all those innocent - I believed naive grandmothers and well meaning Old Ladies said I would find, and I didn't believe them. Something I didn't know existed. Didn't think could exist. Still don't know if it does....</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">but maybe it does.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Maybe.<br />I hope.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">No one but you.</span><br /></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-30528128819394366652008-07-14T08:56:00.000-07:002008-07-14T09:25:26.536-07:00<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family: verdana;">Twi</span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span>ce Bitten</span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHt6mJwiDrI/AAAAAAAACu8/87ANKMBCc14/s1600-h/IMG_2199.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHt6mJwiDrI/AAAAAAAACu8/87ANKMBCc14/s320/IMG_2199.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222902988739317426" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHt6mhlFvBI/AAAAAAAACvE/WzjZHc7oMzg/s1600-h/IMG_2200.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHt6mhlFvBI/AAAAAAAACvE/WzjZHc7oMzg/s320/IMG_2200.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222902995133774866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">And not by mosquitoes although I have plenty of those bites to go around. Yes those are my two-year pale calves up there with the bruises that hardly show up when photographed. Yesterday they looked worse, today better. The big bruise on my right leg is already yellow in the middle so healing well.<br /><br />Here's what happened: Last Wednesday at 6:45 in the morning, I was on my way to the bus that would take me to the train station that would take me to camp in the village, when I turned a corner near my apartment and surprised a pack of wild dogs some guy was feeding from his doorway. I didn't know they were there, but one on the outskirts of the pack was apparently surprised and threatened by my sudden appearance. I'm sure with my big backpack and the big tent in a bag I was carrying I seemed like a large threatening human coming up behind him when he wasn't too sure he wanted to get closer to the human in front of him with the food.<br /><br />He never growled. But barked threateningly and charged. I had time to back away, tell myself not to run or he would chase me, and realize even if I didn't run he was still coming for me. He bit</span></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> twice. Once on each leg. And ran away. I screamed, fell down, was going to cry - decided not to cry - realized I couldn't bet back on my feet with my big backpack on and the guy feeding the dogs had to come and help me. Among my thoughts were - Did he bite me? I never thought a dog would bite me. If I'm bleeding I have to go to Bucharest for the rabies shots.<br /><br />I was bleeding, but not a lot. My first thought was "It's just a scratch. I've had worse falling off my bike." I think it was the dogs equivalent I think to shoving someone out of the way so you can run down the stairs and out of the house before the cops show up. It wasn't until I was on the bus to the train station, trying not to bleed on the car, that I realized my legs actually hurt. Later the bruises started to swell and show up but and once I got a band-aid one of the punctures bleed for about half a day. I count myself lucky, though. If the dog had been angry he certainly could have done more damage.<br /><br />Rabies shots - for those of you afraid of needles, injections, and long grueling amounts of time spent on trains you should probably not read on.<br /><br />I ended up getting on the bus to the train station, buying tickets then dumping my water bottle on the wounds before getting on the train to camp. On the way one of our high school student leaders insisted on cleaning the wounds again with my bottle of hand-sanitizer. Peace Corps doctors insisted I come to Bucharest for the anti-rabies shots so rather than going out to the camp ground with everyone else I had lunch in Baru Mare and got back on the train. Nine hours later I arrived in Romania's capital where thankfully I met a friend and went out to dinner rather than dragging my sorry self to the hotel and finding food alone.<br /><br />Thursday morning at 8:15 I saw our Peace Corps doctor and received four shots. One in the arm, one in the butt and one in each bite (yeah, and I got bit twice!) And a schedule telling me I had to come back four more times for the rest of the anti-rabies treatments. Took an afternoon train home for seven hours spent the night at home at my apartment and early Friday morning set out for camp - made it there by Friday afternoon.<br /><br />Saturday night, we ended camp around three, was back on a train at nine. Midnight took the overnight train to Bucharest, got to the office at 7:00, 7:30 had a shot, 9:45 was on a train back to Deva - arrived in Deva at 7pm.<br /><br />The thing about the anti-rabies shots is I'm glad they have them and that Peace Corps makes us get them if we're bit by an animal. However, I don't have any reason to suspect that the dog had rabies and when I think about it not having rabies, I just get upset at all the time I have to spend traveling for these shots. In other PC countries you can get three shots when you show up in country so you don't get rabies in the event that you are bitten (like the vaccines you give your pet dog so they DON'T get rabies.) I'm not sure why we don't do that here because three shots is ultimately less than six (or in my case nine) but then again I only know of three other volunteers who have actually been bitten by dogs.<br /><br />Getting bit by a dog is surely going to make me hate trains. I have to go back to Bucharest again overnight train Wednesday night spend three hours in Bucharest and come back Thursday night. And again next week, and then again in two weeks. At least hopefully by August 7th The Dark Knight may be playing in Bucharest and if that's the case I won't be in such a hurry to get back to site.<br /></span></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-9154340141019214522008-07-08T13:20:00.000-07:002008-07-08T13:53:31.063-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Babies are Gone!</span></span></span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Christina came to pick up the kittens an hour ago and now it's just me and Bella again. So another project over, and again not the way I anticipated, but accomplished nonetheless. I feel bad about their missing "escapee" brother and sisters, but I'm very happy that at least Chuckles and Hugs will be going to a good home. I tried to give Christina some advice about socializing them but she said her mother has cats and knows how to take of them. And I'm sure she does.<br /><br />I hope the little girls will be happy and will continue to make progress. Today we went to the vet because of Chuckles puffy firm stomach, made me expect stomach worms. Later, I had them both in my arms and they were playing with each other and then they both fell asleep. They purr when I held them, but disliked being picked up - so I had to chase them because they'd never come to me. Still hissy and spitty, but hopefully on the way to long happy domestic lives.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I hope your new guardian will give you the vaccines you need to be healthy and hopefully will have you sterilized. I hope you'll be happy with a yard to play in and when you're tempted to go exploring this big crazy dangerous world you'll remember not to stray too far from the food bowl. Good luck guys! I miss you already.<br /><br />Now I'm getting ready to leave for camp for four days and Bella goes from Big Sister to ruling the house all alone. I hope she doesn't get too lonely!<br /></span></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-74834900752310743602008-07-07T11:37:00.001-07:002008-07-07T11:41:13.825-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >On Failure</span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">People are uncomfortable with failure. Americans in particular do not accept it. In Romania there is a cultural stigma against failure that says its better not to try than to try and fail. Someone described it as Americans will start out saying "yes" and Romanians will start out saying "no." I think that's accurate.<br /><br />I think one of the most valuable things we have to teach as Romanians in America is that you can fail - the only redeeming point about America's attitude toward failure is that we have an underbelly of "at least you tried" which doesn't exist here. As a postcard I found in my apartment left by the previous Peace Corps volunteer says "Even if you fail, at least you are trying to succeed. You could do nothing." I think if we can impart that value to Romania, we will have accomplished a lot.<br /><br />I have had a couple of experiences in my life where I've completely failed at something - and when I say "failed" I don't mean "blew it off" or "didn't do what I could have." What I mean by Failure in this instance is that I gave 100% of everything I had - there was absolutely nothing more I could do - and still I failed. Many people if they find themselves close to failing, find the resources (either within themselves or in friends and family) to pull themselves out at the last minute. </span></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Therefore I don't know many people who claim to have this experience of Failure and very few people I have met in life can relate to Failure. It is like hitting a wall.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Therefore, when I relate my experience starting out in a "this is what happened to me" style, I quickly become assertive. Because it has been my experience the other person needs some convincing that I did in fact Fail - that there was<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> nothing </span>I could have done to try harder. Maybe it's because of my assertions, but the other person almost always argues with me my experience was not actual Failure (capital F) but just failure on my part to do something more.<br /><br />Example:"I'm sure if you went to therapy and overcame math anxiety you could do math."<br />No. I have math anxiety and a learning disability. While Math anxiety may be treatable, a learning disability is not something that can be cured. I'm sorry you don't believe me but it's not a matter of not having tried. It's not a matter of not wanting to learn.<br /><br />This treatment of my experience - making it invalid - is incredibly frustrating on top of the experience of Failing. I do realize that tat it's not my failure that they disbelieve, it's the idea that <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">people can fail</span> that they don't want to believe. Because if it happened to me it could happen to them and they don't want to think about what it's like to have that incredibly frustrating experience like beating your head against an immovable object.<br /><br />But I don't have to think about it what that's like. I know.<br /><br />So when you encounter someone sharing an experience with you from their life, and incredibly frustrating experience of Failure, don't try to convince them that there's more they could have done. They are probably more than anything else just looking for someone to acknowledge and validate their experience. They are looking for someone to say "I understand that it was very difficult." They don't want to hear, "I'm sure there was something else you could have done."<br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />And in the meantime chances are when someone is telling you about the worst period in their life - the story is going to be negative. I bet the story of the worst thing that ever happened to you isn't a positive story. So don't assume the situation was a negative one because of this attitude. Attitudes are shaped by circumstances and someone who starts out with a good attitude in a situation can change their attitude over time. When the good attitude receives no nourishment, it bears no fruit and it dies.<br /><br />I have learned to appreciate my failures. For one thing they taught me to identify and understand what other people in unjust circumstances are going through. It can be very helpful to <span style="font-weight: bold;">know</span> that failure is possible - even when you are trying your hardest, and I find it useful to be able to identify with what people in other situations are going through.<br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />But for now, </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">I have to figure out how, when I get this response of someone trying to invalidate my life experience, how not to let it take me right back to that darkest time in my life when the Failure was actually happening. If anyone has any advice on that, I'll happily take it.<br /><br />I can't mull this over in my head anymore, so I had to write about. Now I'm going to go take a shower and stop feeling this way.</span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-10044922651863552972008-07-06T10:09:00.001-07:002008-07-06T11:30:01.963-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" >Two Sisters</span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHEH-h5HY-I/AAAAAAAACuc/w--CB3FOA08/s1600-h/IMG_2185.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHEH-h5HY-I/AAAAAAAACuc/w--CB3FOA08/s320/IMG_2185.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219962213930329058" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >This is Hugs (the hissy and spitty one)<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHEHoch57rI/AAAAAAAACuU/uENrQT3TCTQ/s1600-h/IMG_2184.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SHEHoch57rI/AAAAAAAACuU/uENrQT3TCTQ/s320/IMG_2184.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219961834533678770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >This is Chuckles (the one with the eye problem)</span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Two kittens found after an interesting night-long adventure which involved lifting up the bed and also crawling around the living room with the flashlight on my phone at 3:30 in the morning while my friends who were crashing over slept, unawares.<br /><br />They now wait in the no-places-to-hide kitchen for my work colleague Cristina to call and say when she's picking them up to take to their new home outside of Deva with her mother.<br /><br />Their sister, Precious, who is white with gray tabby-striped spots seems to have disappeared, and by the uneaten food left about in bowls sequestered in various rooms at different times I have concluded she is no longer in the apartment. How or when she left I have no idea. I believe it was probably sometime after I lost Tiger on Thursday night, but actually Thursday night was the last time I saw her (maybe it was her, maybe it was Hugs) and it could be that Tiger followed her out the window. I didn't hear another jumper - but I can't be certain. As my friends pointed out, if Hugs could sneak into the living room without us knowing it - Precious could have sneaked out the window or the front door. I feel bad for having lost her.<br /><br />My worst fear is that she's dead somewhere in the apartment. (Poor Precious!)<br /><br />More on last night's adventure: We caught Chuckles here, and confined her to the cat carrier in the bedroom and put out a bowl of fresh food to tempt her sisters out. My friends crashing for the night went to bed on the couches, and I took the fold out chair-bed so as not to sleep in the bedroom and disturb the kitten(s). Chuckles started crying and I was hearing responding cries. They sounded like they were coming from under the couch I was sleeping next to, but sometimes I have a hard time telling where sounds are really coming from. Then I moved somehow and heard a hiss and I knew I she was in the living room. So I sat up and picked Bella up from where she was sleeping by my feet and told her to go get the kitten under the couch. When I acquired my flashlight I didn't see her under the couch anywhere, but heard Bella growling across the room and realized she was under the TV. But with all the large backpacking packs around the room and shopping bags, what a great place for a kitten to hide. Twice I saw Hugs under the TV and twice she proved very disappear-y until we (Bella and I) finally cornered her and imprisoned her with Chuckles in the carrier.<br /><br />Bella proved very embarrassed by her lack of ability to hunt other cats in her own territory and decided to stay up for the rest of the night and prove herself by getting into the spices my friends brought over from other exotic locals, and knocking the chocolate sprinkles all over the floor. However, Bella has been very gracious about giving up her kitchen so I could move the kittens, bowls and litter box into that space and close the door.<br /><br />This experience has also taught me to appreciate Bella's even temperment. All that I know of Bella's origins is that my second host mother found her crying in the rain with two other kittens, caught her, brought her to Deva from the country house where her garden is and gave her to me covered in fleas, yet Bella had a friendly disposition from the beginning after being socialized for all of a few hours by my host mother. I suppose it's completely possible she was already at that time someone else's cat who got away in the rain. But if that was the case someone else wasn't looking after her with eye drops and flea medication. Yet Bella first purred for me the first time I gave her rice boiled in milk (because I didn't yet have any cat food) and on the second day she was more inclined to climb up my pant leg than to run into the corner. She never hissed or spat at me.<br /><br />Anyway, this experience has taught me that no matter how good our intentions are, sometimes we can't help the kittens that don't want to be helped (hence the two that ran away.) I'm very lucky to have so quickly found a home for the two that remain, but whether they will stay there or run away to live out their lives in the wild I have my doubts - and also no control. I have to console myself knowing I did only the best I could for them, and even though I held them both today and stroked each one of them until they stopped shaking and started to purr - they probably still hate me and hate people. I broke up their family. And the knowledge that their family was going to break up soon naturally anyway doesn't comfort me much. It does make me feel good to think that maybe I could help these two beauties have better, longer, healthier lives, but I'm also worried because until Christina picks them up I know I'm not off the hook.<br /><br />I told myself getting into this that we all must make decisions knowing we have to live with what we did or did not do. And I chose to do this. I think maybe its because my parents never let me rescue animals off the street when I was a kid and now that I'm on my own I'll do what I want and no one can stop me. In any case I learned my lesson about feral cats and now I believe people when they say that they don't like people and don't want to be tamed. When Bella and I say goodbye to Chuckles and Hugs I'll know that I've had my "rescuing" experience for Romania and I won't need to do it again. Until I'm back in the U.S. and can work through a rescue organization.<br /></span></div></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-37051804578969965572008-07-04T10:43:00.000-07:002008-07-04T11:52:14.592-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">And then there were 3?</span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SG5dy77PT_I/AAAAAAAACt0/r7FxcRn9Qhs/s1600-h/IMG_2172.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I0Z0ReCXZcw/SG5dy77PT_I/AAAAAAAACt0/r7FxcRn9Qhs/s320/IMG_2172.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219212147829985266" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">I think this little guy is the one who escaped last night. I never saw which one it was, but this guy is the darkest and his sisters (all calico, therefore I assume female, but they could also be sterile males) have some white on them - which leads me to believe it was the Tiger, here.<br /><br />Last night the kittens came out - I actually saw three of them - and emptied the bowl of food I put out.Three were all standing in the window crying. I caught the two who needed their eye drops. That's when I took this picture.<br /><br />I didn't think the kittens could climb up the chair to get into the window because it seems when Bella was their size she had trouble jumping on to the couch, and the chair is higher. But maybe they're more motivated out of fear. I didn't think much of it </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">at the time. After a while I gave up on the catching the other two to check on them, I settled on administering the eye drops and went to bed.<br />Then I heard a noise and something made me think "I bet a kitten that could climb up to the window could make it through the kitten-size hole in the screen." So I got up to nail the screen in the two places I saw that it was loose, in the process discovering a much bigger kitten gap than I had seen before. So I decided to go out on the balcony and investigate. What I should have done is gotten the flashlight and scanned the balcony for kittens, because when I stepped outside I heard the crashing sound of a kitten jumping off the second story balcony into the very bushes where I had seen large dog sleeping earlier in the day.<br /><br />I know the kitten landed on his feet though because I heard him crying on the ground after that. One of his sisters whined a little in response and I felt very bad that he was separated from his siblings.<br /><br />And bad about the convention of barking dogs that proceeded to take place in the alley below my window. But I think from the sound of it the local pack was turning on one of their own rather than hunting kittens.<br /><br />Ironically this guy was the one I originally named Lucky. Is he Lucky to have escaped domesticity? I don't know. Free meals, free medical care and someone who cleans up your poop in exchange for sleeping all day. I don't see a downside. At least he gets to remain wild at heart.<br /><br />I hoped for for him that he would find his way back to his mother. But then I thought she will just get fleas on him again. The medicine I gave him will make him immune to fleas for six weeks but Mother will probably get the flea eggs on him and they will hatch whenever he finds himself not immune anymore. Maybe he will find himself a new home in the six weeks in between.<br /><br />If not, I hope that he will make it. He was a tough guy. </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">He was the biggest of the litter. </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"> I named him Lucky, but I started calling him Tiger because he was so feisty. He was the brave one. He once ran out from under the bureau sacrificing himself so I wouldn't go after the little sister, and thus he was first to get his medicine. He bit me once, and he was not afraid to hiss and spit but once you got him in your hands you could put him on his back and and he would show the bottoms of his little paws, how pads were black and not pink. He also had a cute little black nose.<br /><br />Godspeed to you, Tiger. May all of your nine lives be long, healthy and happy. I'm sorry if I made you afraid and miserable. So afraid you were willing to jump off the balcony and chance life on the street. I hope being parasite free and having your eye goop cleared up and a few meals brought you some brief happiness. I will miss you.</span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-49741225869779574742008-07-03T03:45:00.000-07:002008-07-03T07:44:26.699-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cat Lady</span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'm about to relate a story which I already consider to be a mistake. In fact I was well aware that this was probably a bad idea when I set out to do it - but do you ever have an idea and before you can reason yourself out of it, your mind is "wedded"* to the idea. It's like "too bad-you thought of it. Now you have to do it." <span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size:85%;">*</span>PC term</span><br /><br />There were four kittens living down the street in what would be like a man hole, only it didn't have a cover and it was square. I say "were" because I caught them and now they're living in my bedroom. I think. All four of them are MIA at the moment which leads me to think they must have gone under the bed and crawled up into the box spring. Otherwise I have no clue.<br /><br />I thought I would take in these four adorable babies and sequester them in my room, since I'm sleeping on the couch anyway, and foster them until I can find homes for them. I already bathed, trimmed the claws and flea shampooed all of them, and applied the necessary medicine which prevents them from getting fleas again for 6 weeks. However, I thought they would be a little more social - or easy to socialize. These babies hate me. They are hissy and bitey.<br /><br />I thought they would be like Bella who when she was that age stayed all night in the cardboard box I put her in - even when she had to stay in the kitchen. These guys take off for the nearest corner as soon as I put them in the box. Two of them need eye drops like Bella did when I first got her but those two were not to be found this morning. And I thought they would take to Bella like a new mom. Bella is curious about them, but they are scared of her.<br /><br />Last night I was plagued with guilt about how their poor mother must feel after I stole her four babies! Even though I know I did it because for their own good! I thought a flea bath and regular food would be good for them. I was dead set on finding them homes (before next Wednesday when I leave for the next camp). Now I'm having nightmares about dead kittens being stuck inside my furniture. None of them have eaten any of the food I put out for them yet, and I'm afraid I made a bad experience for them worth with the bathing them, and the twice catching them from their hiding places in the bedroom so I could administer the flea and eye medicines. Now I can 't find a one.<br /><br />This may have been a mistake. But at least I realized catching their mother so I wouldn't have to separate her from her babies was a worse idea. She too would need a flea bath before she could become a guest in my lovely home and I don't think she would have been as accommodating as the kittens. I think she would have killed me.<br /><br />Rest assured I have no intention of living with 5 cats, so even if these guys don't find homes and I have to get a sitter while I'm at camp, I'm still looking for a volunteer or a Romanian family to take them in. Unfortunately there's only room on the plane home for one cat, but there's room in my heart for all of them. If I can't find homes for them I have a lead on a Deva animal shelter where they can go.<br /><br />In the meantime everyone I know in Deva has been mobilized to find a home for these feral kittens. I even have my number up on the bulletin board at my local vet's office. Now let's hope they come out from hiding so I can give them away!<br /></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-27986734427265074222008-07-01T09:01:00.000-07:002008-07-01T10:03:03.993-07:00<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Inner Rock Star</span></span><br />The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've never been someone who listened to music everywhere I went. I was kind surprised by this ear bud phenomenon. I've never been someone who walks around "plugged in." Even when I got my shiny MP3 player for Christmas I often forgot to bring it with me or forgot to put on some tunes if I was with other people. Therefore, sadly my last year in Romania has been mostly music-free. However, I recently took a train trip and realized the appeal of the ear bud culture. Now those ipod commercials with the dancing people finally make sense to me. When I have the ear buds in I don't have to give a care about anything. I don't even have to listen to my own thoughts! It's amazing.<br /><br />I had forgotten how much energy one can get from music. It's like being plugged in to a battery, constantly recharging my strength and motivation to make through the day - like a strong cup of tea or a good fruit smoothie - and right now my fruit of choice is Queen (pun <span style="font-style: italic;">intended</span>. Freddie forgive.)<br /><br />I have been a Queen fan for a long time but I couldn't say I've been a big Queen fan. They are one of the bands I always liked but never owned any of their music, with the exception of the Bohemian Rhapsody single one side and Show must go on the other. However, by now I am proud to say that I am very close to accomplishing a goal I've had for my life since I was in high school - which is to learn all the words to Killer Queen.<br /><br />For various reasons last week I decided it would be a good time to electronically acquire all of Queen's Greatest Hits Platinum Collection disks 1 through 3. And that last Tuesday would be a good day to listen to "Somebody to Love" for 11 hours straight. Then Saturday when I got on the train it was a nonstop jam session. The second train ride was about a half hour long and I couldn't sit still. Well today on the way home it was the same thing. My train was originally 20 minutes late. Not a good because I had an eight minute layover to make a connection. When I finally got on a brand shiny new train, I was told it was direct to Deva. Great! Especially considering I slept all of 3 and half hours the night before. Did I sleep? Not at all. It was a 100% Queen concert in my head. This was a nice train but it was what is call a cattle car. It's all open seating inside, no private compartments. And that was fine. It was happily lip-snyching and fidgeting in my seat until the very delayed train started moving again after an inexplicable 40 minute stop at a small village station, and I realized that I was the only one in my train car. Time to sing. I sang and sang whatever I wanted for about 35 minutes when I got up to walk to the back of the train car and wait for my station. That's when I noticed that the front of the car I was in opened up right to the train conductor. Not the guy who comes and checks the tickets - the guy driving the train, was listening to me the whole time.<br /><br />Nothing to be too embarrassed about. I went to the back of the train and shut the door so I was in the little private room waiting by the door for the train to stop at my station. Two stations early. And I closed the door so I figured now I was really safe to belt out "Somebody to Love" at the TOP of my lungs. And I was standing in the moving train with the hand rails by which I could hold on to as I danced/prevented myself from falling. Then I noticed that though the door closed, the space above the door was completely open and I was not sealed in my happy little compartment.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">"I try and I try and I try! But everybody wants to put me down..."</span></span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Maybe I would be more embarrassed if I had actually seen the train driver and made eye contact with him or if I knew that he understood English. It's possible he was driving the train with his own ear buds in.<br /></span></span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474673.post-22989200801653991832008-06-29T11:10:00.000-07:002008-06-29T11:26:06.489-07:00<strong><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;color:#33cc00;">I Love Deva</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;">The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps, of which I am a proud volunteer.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Last Thursday was a big day for me. I took out my red bicycle I bought last August (and haven't ridden since last August) and had two guys fixing a car pump up the tires, and rode my bike to the Deva swimming pool. I've vaguely known that Deva has a city pool for a long time, but I've never been. I've heard from a lot of other volunteers reservations about Romanian public pools, but I thought I should at least go check it out.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">It is so nice! There are actually three pools. One kiddie pool, on "middle" pool and then a pool that's two meters deep. I didn't actually find out how deep the other two pools are because I spent all my time in the two meter pool. In addition to three swimming pools, the whole pool-area which costs 5 lei to get in has a volley ball net, outdoor showers for rinsing off, and lots of outdoor bars and restaurants where you can get a beer and mici (sausages), corn on the cob, or ice cream and a variety of cold drinks.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">And the water in the swimming pool is cold too. I hoped in and thought Wow! This is as cold as I wish my cool-aid would get in the refridgerator, however the cool-aid remains as cold as tap water. I swam laps across the two meters deep pool for two hours. Flotation devices are allowed and had I one of those floating rafts it would have been quite nice to float in the pool from which you can see our ruin of the ancient citadel in the hills.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">I noticed, however that no one really swims acrross the pool the long way. Some guys were swimming across the pool the short way, but mostly everyone hangs around the edges of the pool and jump in and out. It's a lot of teenage guys thinking of new configurations of ways to fling themselves over the top of or into their friends and then into the water. And they don't always look at where or who they're jumping on to. And there are no life guards, so there's no mandatory 20 minute rest period - which would have been nice when swimming laps for two hours in water so deep you never once touch the bottom.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">But the only bad thing about the pool is that there are no lockers. So I had to leave my bag with my bike helmet in it on my towel. I was actually expecting a phone call, so I went back to the towel repeatedly to check on my phone - but I guess I didn't check on my wallet. After I got dressed I left the pool and maybe I imagined I put my pool ticket into my wallet and my wallet in my pocket but when I arrived at the closest grocery store minutes later my wallet was nowhere to be found. And I had no minutes on my phone and no computer as mine was in the shop being fixed. And no money to recover my computer. Luckily at that moment when I was standing embarassed in the checkout line admitting I had no money, a friend called me and I was able to ask him to call Peace Corps and have the safety and security officer call me. But strangely, not two minutes later a collegue from my office called me to say someone had found my wallet and called the office. First I thought he had only my ID card. He was at the huge Super grocery store on the outside of town. I didn't know how to get there by bike and had no money on me for a cab so my work colleges drove out to meet him and he gave them my wallet while I waited at the office for them. I recovered my entire wallet, cards, IDs, and cash! I felt very lucky. And I immediately bought myself an ice cream cone!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Strangely enough, the amount of money in my wallet was about the exact amount that a pool pass costs. I think one might be a good investment. But regardless I'm looking for a friend to come with me on the 4th because I plan to spend the day at the pool - and I need someone to watch my bag.</span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12899027278098116775noreply@blogger.com1